Casgliadau Arlein

This portrait was painted in 1623, a year of crisis when bad harvests and economic recession affected even members of the Welsh gentry. Yet this did not stop displays of social grandeur - this man is dressed in the latest fashion, with his ruff, pointed beard and horizontal moustache. It was previously believed to be a portrait of Colonel Thomas Madryn Esq (b.1613), but his date of birth does not tally with an inscription on the painting ("age 29, 1623"). It is now believed to be a member of the Madryn family, possibly Gruffydd, Thomas Madryn's father. Gruffydd Madryn was a member of a landowning family from the Llyn peninsula, and High Sheriff of Caernarfonshire in 1632.